‘Australian Survivor’ update: Sandra narrowly avoids elimination by the skin of her teeth

For all you “Survivor” fans who aren’t able to watch “Australian Survivor: Blood V Water” and see Sandra Diaz-Twine try to win her third career crown, here’s your weekly update. (Warning: this article contains spoilers for what has already aired!) Gold Derby has recapped the first three episodes — Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3 — and we’ll be covering the show all throughout the season. The Queen’s Red tribe has only been to tribal council once so far (in the third episode) and — deep breaths — she just narrowly avoided elimination by the skin of her teeth.

Let’s back up. When Sandra first arrived on the set of “Australian Survivor” Season 7, she did so in style … in a helicopter. Most of her fellow players instantly recognized the two-time champ from “Pearl Islands” and “Heroes vs. Villains” and were a bit starstruck to find out they’d be playing with her down under. As this season’s theme is “Blood V Water,” that meant Sandra had a secret weapon by her side in the form of her daughter, Alanna “Nina” Twine.

SEE How to watch ‘Australian Survivor: Blood V Water’

Sandra competed right away in her first reward challenge, a far cry from her infamous “sit out” history on the American version. In that challenge, loved ones were paired up against each other and they had to slide down an enormous slide and then battle in muddy water to bring a ring to their team pole. Nina outmaneuvered her mother by twisting her arm, and she ended up prevailing for her Blue tribe.

At camp, Sandra vowed “not to play too hard too fast” this time around, but then admitted in a confessional that she would take down anyone — even her daughter — if it meant she would win her third trophy. This, folks, is why we love her.

Sandra’s team avoided the first two tribal councils, which allowed Nina to really come into her own over at the Blood camp. Nina had a strong hand in voting out the first person, Andrew “Andy” Meldrum, because she didn’t trust him. And the second eliminee, Briana Goodchild, essentially sealed her own fate when she was caught rifling through a reward box to try to find an advantage.

SEE Everything to know about ‘Australian Survivor: Blood V Water’

At the start of the third episode, Sandra promised, “If I find out someone is after me, forget it, it’s over for you. I don’t forgive, I don’t forget.” In fact, that’s exactly what was happening at another part of her camp, as David Goodchild was trying to rally the troops to get rid of the “Survivor” Queen should his Red tribe lose immunity. After David went to the “Survivor” Storehouse and came back with supplies, Sandra’s spidey senses started tingling and she (correctly) suspected he had actually acquired an idol.

After her Red team lost their first immunity, Sandra and Kate Tatham‘s names were both thrown out at camp, with David leading the charge. Ben Watson broke the news to Sandra that she was on the chopping block, as he wanted to work with her in the game. Ben then informed Michael “Croc” Crocker about the possibility of ousting David instead, but it was just a matter of getting enough numbers to flip the vote. Meanwhile, Samantha “Sam” Gash and some of the others wanted to keep the tribe strong by voting out the Queen and keeping the loyal David.

At tribal council, David inexplicably tried to blow up Sam’s game by calling her a “social butterfly,” and she was beyond offended because she was the person who was most fighting for him to stay. Oopsie! Sam then went around and whispered to everyone individually to vote out David. Before the votes were read, David stood up and played his idol, which meant the eight votes cast against him didn’t count. As for the other four votes, Kate got three and Sandra got one. If just one person had switched from Kate to Sandra, it would have been a two-two tie and Sandra likely would have gone home on a revote. Talk about a close one!